Blooded Twins
by The Lunatic Author
Summary: Sequel to Perfection. Black and white didn't mix. Nor did Rasgnarök and his sibling. Unfortunatly for Sonic, Brenajlok didn't get the memo. Unfortunatly for Mobius, it was stuck in the middle. ON HOLD. Sonally.
1. Collide

The city was aflame.

Burning magma covered the structures, melting metal running down into the once thriving city. Languishing flames devoured the remains of what once were buildings. Rubbles fell from the sky. A dark, ominous cloud hung over the destroyed civilization like a bad omen.

Sadly, the worst had yet to come.

Deep inside this battlefield, shielded from the world by the hellish flames, two figures flew around each other, golden eyes locked together in a eternal struggle. Both were fairly humanoid, with long, reptile tails, small, triangular ears and skinny frames. Hovering in midair, they stared into each other's gaze, waiting.

Deep black fur, hallowed in nature. The very air itself seemed to shiver around the creature as it stood on nothingness, eyes fixed on its counterpart. The being's tail swayed gently behind it, the fire burning around it parting at each lazy stroke.

The second one. Bright, blinding bright fur that bleed red like the walls of this destroyed city. While it's counterpart's expression was soft and neutral, it's own was the complete opposites. Terrifying fangs barred and sharp talons flexing at its fingertips, it's own eyes, much like its opponent, was as bright as the sun itself. But, while the other's aura was cool and collected, it's eyes shone with pure insanity and bloodlust.

"You went too far this time, Brenajlok."

The red one snarled angrily at the other's words.

"This is neutral territory, Rasgnarök. You have no say here."

The other's blazing eyes narrowed.

"That's where you are wrong. You know this is part of my territory. You're trespassing...and not only that..." The darker being pointed at the fiery hell below with a single, razor sharp talon, displeasure evident on his face.

"Only I have the right to destroy this world, brother."

Nothing but the crackling of fire was heard as a reply.

Suddenly, a monstrous roar rose from the red one's mouth like a great wave sweeping away the tension between the two beings. Flaring to life as quickly as a fire doused in oil, bright white energy gathered around the red one's body, the shinning light burning bright like a sun. With a shrieking wail, the humanoid fired a bolt of hot, burning light, the following assault creating a resounding shockwave that flattened the city beneath them entirely.

Except a curtain of black flames pushed the enraged being's attack aside, and from the burning fire that remained emerged a massive, three headed beast with blazing golden eyes covered in pitch black fur. The monster reared back, screeching, wings flying wide open as it fired a torrent of burning black magma at the far smaller creature, who raised his arms and swatted away the flames with his own white ones.

Then, as if the battle couldn't escalate more, the red creature started growing, developing bulging limbs and massive bat-like wings akin to its brethren. It grew the similar three heads and narrow, razor teeth dripping with saliva emerged from each mouth. Sharp claws grew out of its four-fingered paws, and it roared, hot white fire bellowing out of its throats.

Both winged devils raised themselves on their back legs and screamed at each other, towering over the landscape like unmovable mountains. The beasts pounced upon each other, the red one's demented rage radiating like a toxic substance, while the darker one fought with determination, hoping to hold his stand in this desolated, barren world it would not give to the other.

Flesh and skin fell down to the devastated battleground, blood spilled and painted the scorched earth, but none of the opponents were willing to give up as they're clawed, bit and spat fire at each other. Both had lost two of their heads, their wings were mangled beyond recognition and the red one's tail and left arm had been severed from a lucky opening. But the black furred deity was not boding well either; his chest was severely injured with deep carves and one of his eyes were punctured to the brain. If it hadn't been immortal, it would have been long dead.

Both being were ready to collapse, to give out under the exhaustion of this battle...

...but not yet.

Their remaining eyes flashed to life and the two creatures shrieked, opening their maws wide open in a same, fluid movement. Their respective energy, black and white, gathered inside the teeth-filled jaws until two orbs the size of a small town formed. Then, the deities fired, provoking a earth-shattering boom that made the very fabric of existence tremble and fear.

For the eternal battle between the twin children of Yggdrasil had started anew.


	2. Casual Morning

**Well...I took a lot of time to upload...hihihi...**

* * *

Tails woke up with a start.

All curled up beneath the softest blanket he ever snuggled in.

'_Weird...didn't remember going to sleep with one...'_

Getting up from his comfortable, stretched position on the living room couch the kitsune stretched, his twin tails fluttering behind him as he did so. Hearing several bones pop back into place, he made his way to the window, tripping on one of his discarded shoes in the process. Spreading the curtains open, the young fox looked down at the massive, newly built city buzzing below the bright morning sun.

The new Station Square was nearly finished.

The Blood Bath Incident had taken everything; there was nearly no buildings that were spared from the battle, so the government had to rebuild nearly every single house, store and skyscraper that got demolished during the carnage. Understandably, construction companies jumped on the opportunity like hungry lions, and the loud buzzing of blenders, drills and impact drivers was a omnipresent sound that gritted all mobians' sensitive ears. They adjusted, thought, and Tails often saw furries carrying fashioned earmuffs. The yellow fox had wondered several times if he should get a pair, but since his workspace (a small research lab in the middle of the city) was nowhere near the construction sites, the young genius decided against it.

Speaking of which, he should get going if he didn't want to be late...

Knowing that he would only come back late and that there was chances it was going to rain (sunny sky was a fabulous deceiver) the little kitsune closed the window and went for a coat from his wardrobe. Getting his shoes and socks on-no matter how much the later smelled- he picked up his pair of the house's key and headed for the door of the apartment.

He carefully opened the oak door and slipped out, closing it a little too loudly for his taste as he left. Unknown to the orphan genius, the loud snap of the wooden door made his sleeping roommate awaken.

Underneath the ruffled, dull white quilt, a pair of black quills streaked by vibrant crimson hues wildly poked out into the cold morning air like the roots of a fallen tree. They were closely followed by a black-furred hand that lazily pulled the bedding off their owner. The heavy comforter fell down on the rug floor in a heap that was crushed by the sleeper's feet as the black and red hedgehog took upon himself the hard task of awakening.

Shadow the Hedgehog stretched, yawning, his strong, sturdy frame tensing as he extended his muscles to their full extent. Only then the dark speedster opened his eyes to the waking world.

The sight was the same as the last few weeks.

A simple, peach-walled room completed with a small wooden bookshelf stuffed with several types of books, a study where a laptop lay forgotten, and the single bed he was sitting on. The Ultimate Lifeform did not quick to get up, knowing his eyes had yet to readjust to the world.

He had a pleasant sleep, he'll give it that. No more nightmares about Maria or stupid, useless visions that only confused him further. His sleep was black as his fur, so perfectly blank and empty, a few hours of well deserved rest he craved for after that exhausting adventure ...Rasgnarök was finally dead and out of his mind...well, at least the insane part of the deity, which was thankfully the most dangerous one.

Shadow snickered to himself as he got up and trudged toward the kitchen, his stomach growling for nutrients. For the fact that Sonic was still very much alive had been something he kept silent, no matter how much the people of Mobius cried for their dead hero. It was harder with the Blue Blur's friends, and Tails hadn't slept very well since the incident...

"Coffee?"

Speak of the devil and he will appear, as humans would say. Luckily for Shadow, this particular devil had materialized out of thin air so many times it wasn't unexpected anymore.

It was a daily occurrence.

The center of this morning's thoughts was sitting at the table, a mug of black coffee in its clawed hand as it casually drank the hot beverage, another steaming cup resting on the pine table, inviting the sleepy and caffeine-addicted the Ultimate Lifeform. The long, sinuous reptile tail was ever present, so was the pitch black fur, but the creature had those familiar emerald eyes that were far too perky for his taste. Shadow noticed there was a bandage dirty with black blood over his left eye, but by the way the deity acted, it was not as painful as it seemed.

The black hedgehog knew better than to ask why he was injured, thought. These last few days, the other had been coming to visit while bearing a unusual amount of wounds...but it did not matter much. One perk of being a deity such as Rasgnarök was a extreme power of regeneration, something the past, demented self Shadow fought against did not have, thankfully.

The single green eye followed his as he came to the kitchen.

"Are you going to sit down?" The former Blue Blur asked with a small grin, signaling the free mug of caffeine his a single, sharp talon, revealing canines that seemed shorter than before, more like his teenager self.

Good. He was slowly managing to revert back to his mortal form. It wouldn't be long before the creature was able to suppress his energy completely, allowing to look like the sapphire hedgehog he used to be.

With a stoic expression on his face, Shadow sat down next to the creature, trying his best to not shove a Chaos Spear into the thing's head when he notice the color of the hedgehog's mug.

That stupid faker was drinking from his favorite cup.

Again.

Why was he even here in the first place was beyond him. He guessed these smalls talks were something the Blue Blur desperately needed. The friendship (thought strained) and the sanity their contact brought soothing the ageless creature's fears down. For Sonic had unwillingly achieved was no mortal hadn't before; godhood. The moment Rasgnarrok had been killed, by his hand no less, it had left the blue hedgehog as the remaining personality of Rasgnarök.

No longer brought to the verge of madness by his counterpart, he had been forced to take the mantle of the first-born of Yggdrasil and the most powerful being on Mobius. With the memories of the first Rasgnarök stored inside his mind, Shadow could say that, in a sense, Sonic had become Rasgnarök to the fullest, save for that ice-cold persona Sovgir had often reluctantly described when spoken about the God of Judgement.

Having no way to return to his mortal self, Sonic tried to make the best of it. His mortal body had been buried with the rest of the victims of the disaster -he had been there himself, as a crow no less- so he had to live on as this. It wasn't as bad as it seemed, thought. From Shadow's point of view. Sure, the faker could not face his friends point blank without the risk of giving them a heart attack, but it was better than staying under Rasgnarrok's demented clutches for the rest of eternity.

"Did you wait for me to wake up?"

"Nah. I was here since Tails came back yesterday." The lighter-furred creature mumbled, his ears dropping lightly in a way only another mobian would notice at the mention of the fox.

Tails. The vulpine had been a terribly sore spot for the former hero. Shadow knew, for if he had been in the other's shoes and the fox was his beloved Maria, he wouldn't have lasted a day without jumping into the girl's welcoming arms. What Sonic was doing was colossal, standing aside as his little brother tripped and stumbled down the bumpy road that was life, and he could only watch him from affar like a ghost, helpless.

"Didn't you have a meeting with the Commander today?"

Shadow nearly choked on his coffee.

"_Shit_." The Ultimate Lifeform carelessly dropped the cup in favor of a mad dash for his coat. The piece of fabric was ripped off the hanging rack by the door and Shadow quickly slipped it on, Sonic following him with his remaining eye as the black and red speedster searched around for his keys, cursing along the way for the dammed things disappeared once again.

"Kitchen, on the counter next to the fruit bowl." The other occupant of the room said mindlessly as he took another sip. Shadow searched the kitchen, and there they were.

"You forgot your gloves. Try to not get blood on them next time."

Shadow ran to the washing machine down the hall.

"Your shoes..."

"Shut up!"

"...and your gun."

The black hedgehog gave the god a warning glare as he dashed back to get them.

"What time is it!?" The Ultimate Lifeform yelled from his room as he put his socks and hover shoes on. Damn they felt cold! Why did Gerald make them completely out of metal?

"Don't know!" Came the sing-song reply from the emerald-eyed annoyance.

That was the answer. So he could kick the Faker's scrawny ass and light it on fire with the integrated jets. Shadow raced back to the main room, slipping his revolver in his quills as he dashed by the one-eyed creature. He checked the clock on the wall.

_8:56_

Shadow's panicked state fell to a irritating irk. The meeting was in thirty minutes and the main base was one hour away (why did they even put it there!? It was just too far for crying out loud!). There was no hell way he could get there in the required time.

Unless...

His crimson eyes left the clock and trailed back to the black-furred annoyance. The other just finished his cup of coffee, and was placing both cups in the sink. He was busy washing the two mugs (how he was able to do it with those claws, Shadow had no clue), but his triangular, black-furred ears were pulled back; straight and listening the bio-engineered creature with interest.

"Hey fak-"

Sonic raised one of his arms -skinny, very bony arms- and snapped two talons together, the sharp, claws racking together with a ear-grating screech.

Right on cue and before Shadow could finish his sentence, the world seemed to distort beneath his feet, and the Ultimate Lifeform was send falling through the now familiar fabric of space. Sonic looked back at the spot his rival once stood with a amused, innocent smile. His tail fluttered around joyfully, nearly knocking down a flower pot and leaving a small scratch on the lower region of the fridge in the process.

There were these rare moments where he just loved being a god.

xxxxxxxxx

"Check please!"

"Miss can we get another glass of water!?"

"More coffee please!"

"Miss this soup has a _hair_ in it!"

Sovgir felt like she was about to wipe a gun out of her backpack and shoot the whole lot.

Stop talking for a second...I want to breathe in peace for a few moments!

She just had to volunteer. She just had to take over the club while the boys went out to get something to eat. This the immortal goddess did not understand, since they had bought a stupid restaurant in the first place. But it's not like it mattered anymore.

What mattered right now was tuning down her murderous intent.

"Are you going to take my order already!?" A female armadillo with two bickering children cried with a squeaky voice from the far corner of the club. Sovgir gave her a murderous glare, and the squirrel was pleased to see the mortal cower in her seat.

"Miss?!"

A nerve popped through her short forehead fur. Gritting her teeth, the albino humanoid glanced at her bag lying on the counter of the club. It may look like a normal dark brown backpack, but it was able to do things no other article could. Mainly, it was able to generate a infinite amount of guns, from the smallest out of date revolver to a car-sized lazer gun.

"My soup young ma'am has-"

Where did she leave that rocket launcher...?

"HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME FOR YGGDRASIL'S SAKE!" The way the human shrunk like a scared fox (the four-legged kind) made Sovgir feel as proud as a lion. The rest of the clients, however, were a complete nightmare. The white squirrel wondered once again why anybody would sign up for this in the first place...

The kitchen door suddenly opened and a small, gray-haired human hoped out, carrying a large number of platers and dishes on her head and arms that wobbled in a dangerous manner.

"Heya Sov! Got the mortals' orders right here!"

Only Hell could do this without feeling humiliated.

While the tiny god wasn't the worst cook, it was better than having Charmy or Vector at the post; the later got scales everywhere and the tiny yellow bee would bring the whole building complex down before he was able to make a decent dish. And the death goddess seemed to have a enormous amount of free time lately; all that bundled energy needed to be focused or something really bad would happen eventually.

Like spawning a skeleton to serve as waiter (the scariest thing Sovgir had seen since Perfect Rasgnarök). Or taking a casual (save for the heart attacks she caused) stroll on a skyscraper wall. Breaking all laws of gravity and giving reporters the story of the day. Don't ask how she did it. Hell had the knack for doing stupid and impossible things. If she didn't serve as cook at the newly build Chaotix Club, who knew what horrors she would unleash for the hell of it.

No puns intended.

_'Espio needs to get more waiters...' _Sovgir thought absently as Hell bounced from table to table, placing succulent dishes for the starving clients to eat. Being a few thousand years old, the human-shaped deity had quite the experience with food, so her dishes was perfect. That was, from the mobian goddess' point of view, the only reason anyone came here. Too much ruckus came from this place...

"But Espio, why do I have to carry everything?!" Sovgir's ears perked up in attention at the familiar voice. There came her saving grace.

The front door opened. A sleek, purple chameleon with a small, yellow horn coming out from the tip of his muzzle entered first, carrying a plastic bag in his right hand; a large, hulking green crocodile followed soon after; the reptile was carrying most of the bags, and a tiny bee fluttered above them like a teen on a sugar high with a killer smile that looked far too like Hell's own grin. Sovgir shivered at the thought. The squirrel already had her hands full with the ash-haired immortal.

She did not need another one.

At the sight of the part-time detectives the clients seemed to silently cheer, and the albino trigger-happy god had to restrain herself from pulling out a rocket launcher from her backpack and shoot the whole damn group. She did the best she could for Yggdrasil's sake!

Espio rested the bags on the counters before turning around to speak with the white and silver furry:

"Sorry we took so long. We had the bad luck of passing by a new arcade and Charmy didn't want to leave until he beat a stupid 'flappy' something game-"

Leave it to the bee to take his companion's time.

"And I did it mister! I got the new record and a free milkshake!

Sovgir could only chuckle and reach up to kiss her scaled boyfriend on the cheek; several clients awned at the romantic sight, but the albino's silver-blue eyes flashed and they looked down at their food.

"Got something to eat?" The squirrel asked Espio as Hell zoomed by, mischievously giggling to herself as she headed toward the kitchens with a massive number of dirty dishes precariously hanging from the top of her head.

The detective smiled lightly as a large crash of broken porcelain was heard. Hell probably had once again thrown the dirty plates into the sink with the care of a angry driver. Seconds later the humanoid deity tumbled out with a fresh batch of food.

"We got some takeout. Does Chinese sound good?" Sovgir shrugged lightly, grabbing her backpack Charmy was eying (she was never letting that bee near it again) from the counter. She put in on and stretched, her muscles tensing beneath the silky white fur as she purposely gave her boyfriend some pretty good eye candy.

A loud '_weeeeeeeeeee_' echoed out throughout the club as Hell bounced back to the kitchen wearing wheeled shoes. Clients watched her buzz by with a raised eyebrow, but the regulars didn't even bat a eye at her actions.

"Well I have to go somewhere and these mortals are complete bastards. I'm out of here."

Several clients shot her a mean look. The spell clouding the chameleon's face disappeared at those words.

"What? Where?"

A loud crash coming from the kitchens made them wince. Hell probably just fell over. Again.

"Asgarn."

By then many of the clients were listening on their conversation (damn mouses). Sovgir however didn't give a nickel; she was too busy trying to reassure her boyfriend. She had spoken about the home of the gods to Espio, and he knew she wasn't very well welcomed there. No child of Yggdrasil was...

Even if her boyfriend wasn't very comfortable with this, Sovgir still had to go; the duo argued a bit, drawing once again the attention of the clients. Charmy and Vector were quick to take over Sovgir's temporary job, and the club was filled with wild chatters and unimportant conversations once again.

Unknown to them, a pair of eyes spied from the kitchen door.

The Death god was feeling very guilty. Hell had been the one that gave Sovgir the message, received from another deity (her dear brother Fenrir, the guy still had a sore neck from what she saw) and as much as she wanted to go, the tiny death god was denied access of the immortal realm ever since she had been born. Odin never did let his undead granddaughter take a single step inside his 'perfect' world. He hated her, just like any other who didn't acknowledge his rule, with a passion capable of burning a entire world. Not like it was bothering.

Hell was content enough screwing with the mortals' precarious sanity anyway.


	3. Crimson Asgarn

It was almost past noon and to say that Sonic was glad to get his eye back was understatement. It was all patched up and healthy again, and not that mangled, bloodied horror he had to rip out after his last fight with Brenajlok. He was happy, and the former hero made a mad dash through the window, not giving much thought on the fact he just jumped out of the top building of a decent-sized skyscraper.

Flickering a quick invisibility spell, the once blue speedster flew through the city's many buildings, watching the loud, buzzing crowd below with little interest. He already explored the whole town; there wasn't much to do here. Besides, he was only here because he needed to watch over his friends.

Especially Tails.

Sonic wasn't blind. In fact, his eyes were greatly enhanced ever since he became Rasgnarök, and even more when he adopted this humanoid, reptile-like body. He could see Tails was having problems cooping with his apparent 'demise', and the young fox wasn't going to get anywhere if he kept going like this.

Sadly, he couldn't do anything about it. Revealing himself to the canine genius would put Tails in a even worse situation. Sonic cared too much; he couldn't send his little brother spiraling down the drain of insanity by showing what he had become. There was the chance Tails wouldn't believe he was Sonic, especially when having the body and power (though the later was amplified greatly) of the brutish, demented creature who killed nearly every living being in Station Square.

The former hedgehog sighed. He sometimes wished he could travel through the timeline of this dimension. Yggdrasil knew how much he would give to destroy the Tears before Richer could know their existence...

Sonic sighed, pulling his body back as he started losing altitude. He finally reached his destination; Tails' workplace, where the fox had been hired as a full-time researcher for a independent laboratory.

The former hero glided his way toward the windows of the small, tiny concrete building nestled carefully between two imposing skyscrapers. He was careful enough to not bump any member of the crowd as he reached his objective; one tiny open window poking out from the first floor. Sonic had been here enough times to know that was the only window of Tails' work room.

Peering inside, he saw the young fox tinkering with some advanced device. It looked like a disk of some kind. The young's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, his usual moody, depressed aura gone and replaced by the creative fire the former hero was used-

_"What the hell?!"_

-suddenly a large, furry figure crashed into him, forcing a surprised (and quite shameful) squeal from the deity and momentarily making him lose his invisibility. The impact send him tumbling into the ground, his bony body having next to no weight while he was in this form. That didn't help the back of his head when it crashed against the ground, making him wince in pain.

The mobian who provoked the whole fiesta, a massive, brown bear, was sprawled besides him, and Sonic was thankful the creature didn't fall atop of him. Lord knows how much that would have hurt. Both literally and in terms of pride.

The bear didn't clearly see what exactly he hit; however he was still quick to realize what had happened. But when he turned toward the smaller Mobian for a apology, the mammal discovered in surprise there was nothing there. The bear's left brow was raised and a look of utter confusion was sprawled on his face.

Sonic, who was now hovering above the perplexed mobian with his invisibility back on, could only giggle childishly at the sight. His tail curled around his body joyfully at the buzzy feeling, almost like a content cat. God the poor guy's face was priceless! He had to do something like this again! It was...

"Are you alright sir?!"

..._terrible_.

Of all people, Tails was the only one who heard the commotion. It just had to be him. Fate just loved screwing him over.

The familiar yellow fox had heard the commotion and was now jumping out of his lab window to help the perplexed bear. Sonic watched quietly as the kitsune aided the maron creature, a familiar feeling of weight and gloom coming down on him like a horde of angry bulls. The draconian's thin shoulders sagged in depression as he somberly observed his brother.

The bear was getting up with the help of the two-tailed teenager. "I'm fine, thank you kid. Though I was sure I bumped into someone...well, it's not like it matters." The brown male trailed off, staring into space (and irreversibly the spot a certain former, now depressive hero was floating). The sapien shrugged it off, picking up his fallen suitcase and leaving like nothing happened.

Tails blinked, watching the bear walk away.

"That was rude. He didn't even say thanks..." The fox muttered to himself. Hovering above the youngster Sonic snorted, crossing his arms and swaying his tail in a irritated fashion.

"You can say that again. Older people always seem to believe they are above the younger."

It was at that specific moment that Sonic realized he had been talking out loud.

And that Tails had gone rigid.

Damn Mother Yggdrasil _herself_.

The fox slowly, painfully slowly, turned around to stare, gaping, at the empty air. The sapphire eyes Sonic had know for years were as wide as saucers, every tuff of hair on the kid's pelt raised and his ears high on alert. In a few words, the tiny yellow vulpine had mastered the 'what the hell?' look quite nicely.

The cause of this submit change could only take one look at Tails' expression before flying off at the speed of March 2.

The former hero flew away like a bullet, gaining altitude while evading the numerous skyscrapers plaguing the city. When he realized that Tails heard him, the dark-furred draconian just wanted to wail, scream and howl until his presence was know to the fox, until he could hug and be hugged by his little brother. Yggdrasil knew how much he missed the old days where they spent the afternoons annoying each other, chasing one other or simply watching a movie together. He wanted to help the younger with his creations -though they always blew up on him- and get laughed at when it happened.

It was both a physical and mental pain, not being in contact with his friends. Shadow was part of the bunch, even if the old grump said otherwise, but the Ultimate Lifeform was too busy to actually spend time with him.

Unable to keep himself quiet any longer, Sonic opened his jaws and wailed, loudly, horribly, scaring the living daylighting out of the people below as he screamed out his pain and sorrow. His flight became wobbly and careless, causing the deity to crash into the roof of a five-story building head-first.

The only reason he didn't break his neck on impact was due to the fact it healed right away.

**That was a pathetic performance. Quite fitting for a worm like you.**

Sonic didn't bother to look up.

"Shut up, Rasgnarrok. Leave me alone."

**Ooooh, I am so scared! **The thing looked at him with disdainful golden eyes.** I hope you get used to it, because I've got fucking nothing to do because of you.**

"You were about to destroy Mobius. If this is not karma, you _deserve_ it anyway." The immortal snapped back, looking up and glaring at his other half.

There, curled carelessly on the asphalt roof, a massive snake lay, it's eyes fixed on the taller god. The monstrous reptile had no scales, instead a silky black pelt that seemed to eat up the sunlight that came in contact with it. It mouth was closed, with dilated nostrils. The deformed god was huffing at the other deity.

**Karma our ass! You had to fucking wake up! I was just about to finally dismember our stupid little avatar when you strolled in and fucking _fried_ me!** Rasgnarrok hissed, lips pulled back in a snarl. For a brief moment, the creature's malformed needle sharp teeth were exhibited. Sonic was not moved by the demon's words, however.

"Again, you deserve it." At that his other gave a frustrated screech, not unlike the one he had made minutes earlier. The dominant half paid no mind to the string of very creative curse that quickly came after, both in Nordic and English, and sat cross legged in mid-air (he was still working on sitting on the ground, but his deformed legs gave him no choice right now).

**I'm stuck in this wraith form because of you! I am barely able to take a solid form in front of mortals!**

Sonic listened emptily at Rasgnarrok's following rant, knowing that trying to shut up the satanic beast would never end in a positive light. The first few days, when he came out of the daze-like trance that made him destroy every other version of himself, he had been horrified to find the golden-eyed demon wrapped around his shoulders and grinning at him.

_'We are going to have fun together t'ill the end of time_!' That was the creature's sadistic answer when he accidentally screeched loud enough to kill a human. He had tried to get rid of the beast, but it had been useless. He was stuck with the dreaded, insane maniac that had killed him; the only thing that came out of the whole ordeal was that he could remind his demented half of the failure his invasion had been everyday...

His eyes narrowed and both halves suddenly looked up, to the sky, seeing something only few could hear, let alone sense.

Only one other being to be precise.

Brenajlok's psychic resonance vibrated all around the former hero, full of pain and unequaled rage. This was strange, Sonic thought with a certain tautness. The other deity was nearer to Mobius' dimension than before, which was perplexing because he had placed powerful wards around his territory, and the old psychic shields the older Rasgnarök had placed still stood strong. The other couldn't have gotten in, unless he hitched a ride through a crack in the space-time reality...

'_Oh crap_.' The black-furred draconian thought in horror as the realization set in.

Only one bastard had the habit of twisting the planes of existence to create a new, pretty dimension, and was stupid enough to not smooth it down again to prevent any stray portals or warp zones. Odin was the only idiot who was powerful enough and would do such a ridicule thing. The human god would pay dearly now that his door was open for the demented red-furred version of Rasgnarök.

Normally he wouldn't care, but Brenajlok was too close to Mobius' dimension for comfort.

**Fucking beat that worm to the ground or I'm assaulting your pretty little dreams tonight. I want to see the ground stained red!**

Sonic shot up into the sky faster than a rocket, the high-speed winds created by his sudden accession breaking more than one window. The dragon-like deity, now high above in the atmosphere to minimize the risk of being seen, quickly split open a portal to Asgard. He dove into it, determination shinning from his emerald green eyes that slowly shifted to their natural clear gold shade under the stress.

He would not, after all, let that monster near his friends.

xxxxxxxx

Tails was going crazy.

And the worst part is that he knew it.

He had been working on a revolutionary medical machine, nothing too big, that would be programmed to target and administer weak shots of purified Chaos energy, healing anyone holding a chosen virus when a old bear with a suitcase took a tumble in front of his window. Being polite as always, the fox rushed to help the poor mammal who was dumbly staring the ground like he saw something that wasn't there. The bear didn't even say thank you before he went back into the crowd.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The worst was that when the young genius spoke to himself -which was something most of the intellectuals did- the two-tailed fox thought he heard his deceased brother reply with his usual banter. The vulpine knew it was impossible, yet, he was sure he heard Sonic's voice...

Oh well. Insanity was something all genius got infected.

But still...it would have been nice if his brother was here...

xxxxxxxxx

Shadow couldn't help but look murderous as he sat down for the meeting.

It wasn't like he didn't want to be here in the first place. Well, he _did_, but that's besides the point; the Commander was a power-hungry asshole who didn't stop calling his best agents for a meeting or scheduling press conference ever since the Blood Bath.

Apparently, the way they ran away like chickens from Perfect Rasgnarök with their tails between their legs wasn't taken very well by the public. GUN was suffering from the lack of staff -most of them had been eaten by the Drakons or simply left on 'vacation', which was starting to become a code for 'I'm leaving the country permanently and going to live at the other side of the world far from all this shit' (Agents' exact words, not the writer's)- and money was scarce to find for the military organization. The Commander was borderline desperate for public approval, and his way back to GUN's glory days was, supposedly, by annoying his top agents to death to make it look like they were working on solving all types of serious threats.

Sadly, the Ultimate Lifeform was part of that group.

"Bored, aren't you sugar?" The darker mobian rolled his eyes as Rouge sat down left to him, taking great care to show off her cleavage to all the men in the room. This seemed to be her usual way to greet everyone, so none even bothered to be outraged. The whole room was filled with generals and head divisions, so there were no rookie to gap and stare at Rouge's imposing bust.

"This is going to be tiresome." Another, familiar female voice drawled from the right. But the sound of it, she sounded highly displeased. Rouge chuckled, crossing one leg over the other and stretching carelessly on her seat.

"Seems like you have something in common with these meetings then, kid." The thief smirked victoriously as a irritated huff came from the other female.

"I hope you watch your back you stupid sl-"

"Demi. Rouge." The Ultimate Lifeform warned threateningly, not wanting to start the eternal, pointless fight between the two females that never even had a starting point once again. Shadow refrained himself from hitting both girls. God knows how many times the conference room (or the many other places the duo met) had been wrecked during their arguments. And the reason this started was unknown to everyone. It was really hate at first sight.

This time, however, there was no raging battle between them. Rouge slumped back on her chair, seemingly busy with her perfectly manicured nails. As for Demi, the black and red cat was fooling around with a knife, twirling it around carelessly and taping its sharp end against her fingers.

Probably imagining stabbing it into Rouge's head, knowing her psychopath tendencies.

Demi had been one of the Commander's many, many attempts at getting public approval; the man had hired a group of rag-tag scientists (some, Sonic told the black and red hedgehog with a slightly strained voice, had been in the same deluded organization as Richer) and had given them a sample of Shadow's DNA without the agent's knowledge. The stupid human let them tamper with the sample, wanting to obtain another 'super soldier' to add to his collection and show off. From what Shadow gattered, Demi had been created so she would surpass the Ultimate Lifeform in basically...well...everything.

She turned out to be a black-furred cat with red coloring around her eyes. Her hands and feet had large claws, especially her fingers, and her ears had tiny red ruffs at their tips, much like a lynx. Her pupils were narrow and slit like a reptile, thankfully not those dreaded, haunting gold eyes that drilled into your brain and drove you to the brink of madness if their owner hadn't killed you already. Her iris were just as red as Shadow's; her body was trapped in a black, skin-tight armor with red markings and a hooded shawl to hide her face. She had two tails, a curious incident none seemed to understand, and the curious appendages were tipped with spikes and red fur.

She was a dangerous fighter, especially if fighting her alone; the only ability she had received from the Ultimate Lifeform was energy sensing, thought the lack of genetic powers was filled by her ability to turn into a shadow or possess people. And backed with her knife throwing, she was a perfect, stealthy killer.

Yet despite all of that Demi, or 'Project Demon', was not as strong as Shadow, so the Commander had the lovely idea to scrap the project and leave her in the hands of those crazed up scientists.

But none had known Demi had the same mean streak as her genetic 'brother' and she had gone into a crazed rampage, tearing up a part of the GUN headquarters until she was subdued by Shadow himself. At the end and in a few short words, she had been taken in by GUN and dumped on the unexpecting Ultimate Lifeform, who Demi followed around the second he stepped inside the base.

Of course, the whole accident didn't help the world's view of GUN.

Cloning, abandoning the end result to a group of unscrupulous people, causing the death of four people and nearly killing the hedgehog who saved the world from Perfect Rasgnarök didn't help the organization's precarious image one bit.

"This meeting is starting now."

Shadow snapped back to reality just as Commander Towers entered the room.

The man was still wearing his usual uniform; his cold, calculating eyes swept through the room, briefly stopping at Shadow, Demi and Rouge. The trio could see the distaste evident in the human's eyes. The Commander didn't have the best of mornings, it seemed.

Well, neither did he.

_'I swear Faker next time I see you your head is coming off.'_

And the best part about that was that the former hero could not whine about being decapitated. It would grow back before he could even realize it was missing.

"Good morning gentlemen, today I will start this meeting by stating that our approval rating has once again fallen down by 7%. Naturally, our budget has been cut; the federals won't bring us a new shipment of money until our approval has risen by 10%."

The Commander's speech brought groans from the other humans, and Rouge briefly whined about her lowering paycheck. Shadow waited for the exclamations to pass. As for Demi, she was too busy with her knife to truly pay attention. Not like she cared after all. If GUN was disbanded, she would be able to leave the base freely without a escort.

Three hour and a half later Shadow was finally allowed leaving the room with Rouge and his clone in tow. The meeting had been a pain to the tail; the Commander had been ranting on and on like a broken recorder, showing no sign of stopping. Cut budget, growing rate of early retirement, cut budget, scientists whining about the ethics that had been finally restraining their research due to the need of the government's approval, cut budget. It never seemed to end. It like a endless loop that only the Commander could stop.

It was only when two bold soldiers got up and left in the middle of Towers' speech that people started leaving by masses. By the end, only the higher ups remained behind to nobly take on the Commander's shitty speech. What poor, unfortunate humans.

Well, by Shadow's cheerfully infallible logic, they _probably_ deserved it.

By now the Ultimate Lifeform was hungry, so he headed for the cafeteria; Rouge was having a one-sided conversation with him about jewels, and Demi happily retreated in Shadow's...well, shadow. The ebony furred bio-hedgehog was mildly delighted she did it. A screaming match with the white bat currently chatting about the next stone shop she was going to break in -while being careful of not saying the building's name when they passed the guards- was not in Shadow's agenda.

"Shadow are you even _listening_ to me?"

"No."

At that moment a green and peach blur bounced in front of Shadow's eyes.

"Well Stripe wha' a smile you have!" Scourge noticed with a shark-like grin, giving a thumbs up at a passing female mouse wearing a white cloak as she exited the cafeteria. The small gray mobian blushed up to her round ears, giving off a small embarrassed squeal and rushing out of the room.

"..."

"..._what_?"

"You slept with her haven't you?"

Scourge snorted.

"Of course. Since Commander Stuck-Up got me a job here it's been open season on these chicks!"

"Well aren't you a real charmer." Demi mumbled as she stepped out of the Ultimate Lifeform's shadow, her hood pulled up to hide her face. Scourge winked at her, but didn't do anything else due to the large knife she was holding.

"You got me there Demi."

The darkly colored female stared emotionlessly at the cheeky green hedgehog. "And I wonder why I haven't cut off your genitals yet." The cat remarked in a bored tone, sitting down at the nearby table.

Scourge followed (sitting at the other side of the table and far, far away from the large hunting knife the two-tailed cat held) and quickly picking up a conversation with Rouge about what villainous acts they were going to commit under the Commander's nose. Demi stayed out of it, opting carving small doodles on the thick metal table with her favorite blade as she waited for Shadow to get something to eat.

Soon enough, the Ultimate Lifeform came back with a salad for his clone and small sandwich for himself. They ate in relative silence, exchanging little snippets of conversation about GUN and the city's progress in the construction department.

Scourge butted in on the first topic, of course. "I wonder how long Command' Towy's is going to last. With the amount of bad press he has and the Rasgnarök incident, it's a wonder he still ain' kicked the bucket." Demi chuckled at that.

"Oh he will. People are starting to think GUN is behind Sonic the Hedgehog's death." The black cat absently poked the vegetables in her bowl with the fork. "Something about a experiment and crap. Seeing how I came to be, not to mention Shadow's past, it might be true."

"The public isn't going to stop until they know the full details of Sonic's death." Rouge nodded, her eyes darkening in sorrow as she remembered the darkly-colored, bloody corpse Shadow brought down from the sky after the long, destructive battle.

Scourge mockingly clapped both of his hands together in a praying gesture. Shadow raised a eyebrow at it, wondering if this was the green mischievous hedgehog's unique way of mourning the 'deceased' sapphire whirlwind.

"May you always be remembered for your stupidity and oversized ego, Blue."

...maybe he should tell them about the Faker...

"And Rasgnarök, wherever you are, _fuck you man_."

Shadow winced.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sovgir knew very well Asgard was not politically stable right now, but when she teleported to the palace, the goddess knew there was something very wrong with the palace.

The first sign would be the great golden throne being split in half, the long trench traveling from the imposing seat to the balcony-hall behind her, as if something -or someone- had zipped right into the palace and decided to foolishly screw over Odin's precious chair. Massive columns adorned with jewels and several types of rare ores lay broken across the great throne room, the palace's magical origin being the only thing keeping the gigantic, cluttered chamber from collapsing onto itself.

The second thing that made the white-furred deity suspicious and wary was how much weapons littered the floor. Lord, it was as if the Aesir were having a party with the Vanir and left their things all over the castle. Swords, spears, bows, maces, daggers made of unknown mythic metals filled the warmly-colored floor by the hundreds.

But there was something that set off Sovgir above all. One thing that kept her from yelling for a Aesir to hear her, or to teleport herself away from the realm of the Asgarn gods.

It was the thick liquid that stained the palace walls red.

There was blood -copious amounts of the damn thing- painting every surface imaginable. Sovgir was appalled by the terrible amount. It was morbid to hear, the haunting 'drop, drop' the substance made as it slipped down from the ceiling and the great statues on each side of the chamber.

To add to the massacre that was worth being in a horror movie, there was blood sprayed the walls in mockery of a child's painting. To look those tiny drawings that depicted vile things was too much, they were defiling the ancient marble walls of Asgarn.

A familiar, one-eyed human being cowering under the shadow of a large, reptilian creature. Others showed the same human being killed in several gruesome ways, crowds fleeing flames.

But what chilled Sovgir to the core was the largest painting.

It was drawn more carefully than the rest, with a almost venerating undertone. Like the author of the drawing had spilled his dreams and desires into the blood. Hellish red flames dripping blood slowly eating away the branches of a lone tree, who's roots were torn off and it's fruits were falling down from the highest branches, covered in fire.

Yggdrasil, the world itself, burning away into nothingness.

Immediately, Sovgir was showered by old fears she would have never wanted to live. The large, ancient branches of Yggdrasil, with bark as white as freshly fallen snow darkened by the raging flames. The wood splintering as the gigantic tree fell down from heaven. The massive remains of her leaves being devoured, the roots falling prey to the fire, leaving nothing but smoldering ruins behind. The grassland around the majestic tree, the bearer of life, black as night, covered with the remains of Yggdrasil. The Tree of Life, dead and gone from existence along with everything it carried-the worlds, dimensions, realities.

Everything, just _gone_.

The white goddess snarled, her fur rising instinctively as her silver blue eyes shone with murder intent. None would get to the Tree of Life, she would protect Yggdrasil if it was the last thing she-

A loud crash was heard from a adjoined room, followed by a thundering explosion.

Raging anger burned through her body as she realized whatever dared depict the great Yggdrasil was still here. Sovgir pulled out a gun from her backpack, the weapon glowing a soft dark blue as it charged up. It had a sleek, futuristic appearance. The barrel was long, thin, with sides that glowed neon cyan as the gun charged and got ready to fire.

Sovgir grinned at her new weapon, thankful of the backpack Rasgnarök had given her before he had been defeated the first time, forcing him into madness. Whoever was this bastard, he would pay dearly for his crimes.

To hell with Odin and the rest of the Aesir, whatever this person wanted to do with Yggdrasil, he would never get through with it as long as she lived! Gun at hand, the albino squirrel rushed toward the other room, her weapon's safety hammer clicking loudly throughout the destroyed castle.

As she got to the room's door, a almighty crash deafened Sovigr, who was barely able to duck as a large red object came out of the chamber, blowing up the door and half of the hallway before disappearing through the throne room's balcony.

Sovgir narrowed her eyes at the retreating crimson blur, not missing how the richly decorated hallway had been wrecked by the thing's terrifyingly fast flight. Cracks and gashes eerily similar to the throne room's had been left behind, and-

A soft crunch echoed behind her.

Something was coming out of the chamber into the hall. Sovgir immediately aimed her gun at it, ready to shot the poor fool until he was a puddle of flesh and blood...

...but when she whirled around, her entire body froze at the sight of the familiar, golden eyes Sovgir thought she would never see again.

* * *

**...I first thought against adding Rasgnarrok to the story, but the crazy reptile is going to be needed as the story develops, so bear with me!**Well, it's not his fault he's demented...****

**And good fighting is going to come down next chappy!**


	4. Brenajlok

**Well it was about time I updated...anyways, I'm going to shut up now.**

* * *

Golden lights danced in front of Sonic's reptilian eyes as he warped to Asgarn, careless of the multiple magical shields that tried to push him back out of the Aesir's dimension. He appeared just above a huge, iridescent bridge, overlooking the giant city of Asgarn with narrowed eyes.

Watching the smoke and dust coming out of the golden city and the several piles of rubble where a building was supposed to be, it was clear that Brenajlok had already gotten to work.

**That worm has my taste.** Rasgnarrok commented from his left side, the snake floating in midair in a curled fashion, a toothy grin on his angular face.

Sonic huffed and flew forward, gliding gracefully through the destroyed landscape. Putting up a weak psychic shield, the roaring fire, dust and smoke parted in front of him as he made his way toward the great castle that stood in the middle of the once blooming city, where he could feel Brenajlok's presence with his psychic abilities.

He darted into the castle's throne room through the balcony, not missing the blood and weapons covering the floor or the crude doodling on the walls. Nor the painting of Yggdrasil burning.

**I repeat: the red freak does have a good taste.** Rasgnarrok commented, grinning cruelly at the drawing of Odin getting dismembered with a blood-lusting glint in his eyes. **Yggdrasil knows how much I want to kill that bastard.**

Sonic sighed as he floated down the middle of the room. He did not want to respond to that.

"Good to see you, Rasgnarök." A voice echoed behind him, from the balcony.

The former hero whirled around in mid-air, but that was the only thing he was able to do before Brenajlok charged, the bloodied floor breaking and leave one giant trench as he picked up the darker of the two and dragged him forward toward the mighty golden throne.

Which the wall behind it was covered in swords, spears, daggers, and very, very pointy shields.

Being the struggling duo, Rasgnarrok cursed in Nordic. Sonic panicked as the wall filled with weapons spelling his doom came closer and briefly warped both himself and his deranged opponent. He didn't have the time to focus -nearing the gruesome fate of being impaled through a good dozen of magical weapons that would take forever to pull out made him panic- and they warped into a nearby chamber.

This wall there a bit less, Sonic admitted as he was held by the neck against it.

"Good afternoon, Brenajlok." The former hero hissed through the hand wrapped around his throat. Breathing was becoming difficult, although he could now survive without it thanks to his new abilities. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Paying Odin a visit. The fat old man tasted great." The crimson colored draconian smiled creepily, knowing it would make the darker of the duo uncomfortable.

**Rapist!** Rasgnarrok shouted in a sing-song manner besides them. Sonic didn't dare look at his other. He had other things to worry.

The former hero opened his mouth and fired ball of fire at his captor. Brenajlok growled in irritation, letting go of him and ducking under the black flames. Then, to Sonic's confusion, the red one, turned around and barreled out of the room, blowing the door off.

'_Maybe he wants to play hide and seek?_' The once mortal wondered as he stepped out of the room...

...right in front of a rather surprised, gun-wielding Sovgir.

**Well what do you know, the bitch is here!**

Sonic stopped short and stared aprehnsively. The girl stared right back at the supposedly dead hero.

Sonic couldn't really blame her. He hadn't meet the albino squirrel personally -the old Rasgnarök did, and since he had his memories and emotions, he did, technically, meet her a few thousands years ago- but Sonic had not been expecting to see Sovgir again beyond the vicious contacts they had while Rasgnarrok had been in control, using his mortal body like a puppet on strings.

Thanks for the compliment, Sonic. I feel like such a evil mastermind.

If Sonic hadn't been staring at the end of Sovgir's gun, he would have glared at the snake bastard lazily coiled at his feet.

He stood unmoving, fearful than a single movement would result in the detachment of his head. Then Sovgir did something he did not expect from the usually strong albino squirrel. The hand holding the gun fell down to her side, and she shuffled back, as if unsure of what she was seeing.

The sight was strange, and very unnerving for the young god. One of Sonic's ear twitched nervously and his tail, that had gone rigid with apprehension moments earlier, did the same. He couldn't stay here long; whatever Aesir or Vanir that was left from the initial attack would now face Brenajlok again. As much as he did not like them -rather, how much Rasgnarök did not like them- he would not let anyone die on his watch.

He took a step forward; a big mistake. The albino squirrel's eyes widened, she raised her gun and fired.

The shot fried his left shoulder, but it could barely hurt a god of the level of Rasgnarök. Sonic charged before Sovgir could retaliate and injure him further, his psychic powers knocking her aside with as much gentleness he could muster with the urgent need to stop the rampaging Brenajlok before allowing him to take flight. He raced out of the room like a bullet, the resulting whirlwind pinning the silver-streaked goddess to the ground and leaving a another deep trench on the hallway's decorated floor, further wrecking the enchanted castle.

Sonic quickly spotted Brenajlok; the other god was levitating a bunch of sharp weapons towards a group of frantic gods. The Aesir and Vanir, looking like humans dressed in fine silk robes of numerous flashing colors were cowering beneath the red one's golden gaze, who was smiling eerily as he toyed with the deities, cornering them as they tried to run for their lives.

The darker god charged at his brother from behind; he did not, however, expect the crimson colored entity to whirl around, teeth bared as he slammed into him. Both gods were send tumbling out of the sky in a tangle of limbs, crashing violently into the pavement below in a tight ball, their tails nocked together, venomous tips digging into their opponents' skin as their owner's claws viscously tried to eviscerate the other.

Brenajlok had more luck than his sibling on the matter. His claws ripped out chunks of flesh from the other's sides as they rolled around, earning a ear-splitting screech from the former hero. The said god retaliated by bitting down on the red draconian's tail. The sharp, serrated teeth clamped on the limb and, with a vigorous pull, tore it off, showering the ground with milky white blood.

Brenajlok's following roar of agony made the very ground of Asgarn tremble and quake in fear. Knowing just how dangerous the other was when aggravated, Sonic tumbled out of the red one's grip and quickly took air, the violent winds knocking Brenajlok to the ground when the angry and injured deity tried to take a swing at his back.

"Ghraa!" A blast of white fire impacted the flying black draconian's tail as he made his escape, breaking several of his spikes and burning the fur severely. Sonic was forced to make a aerial barrel roll to avoid a second one. He turned around, golden eyes glowing brightly in silent rage.

He levitated a abandoned Aesir spear and flung it toward the downed Brenajlok as hard as he could, his inner dark side shrieking in satisfaction as the weapon made contact with the red one's left leg. Brenajlok howled yet again as his limb was pinned to the ground by the magical spear. He tugged at it, ready to rip it off should he need to.

Sonic did not give him the time to do such, however. He wanted to weaken his brother as much as he could before the other could retaliate, so he chose the more logical solution.

He dropped a building on him.

Literally.

Brenajlok looked up just in time to have a stone barrack crash into him with the strength of a wrathfully tsunami, burying him beneath several stories of metal, hard rock and wood. Rubble and dust flew into the air, momentarily blinding Sonic.

_'I wonder why it's so hard for Silver to lift large objects..._' The former hero mused, shielding his golden eyes with his arms as the rubble finally settled down, completely forgetting the fact that the said pale hedgehog did not have as powerful, ungodly powers as he did. The dust started to settle, and the crackling of the flames were the only sounds in the battlefield...

"**RASGNARÖK**!" The infuriated shriek boomed over Asgarn as pain exploded in the former hero's abdomen. Sonic cried out when the lance he used to stab Brenajlok went through his stomach, the strength of the psychic-powered throw powerful enough for the weapon to come out the other side. The spear fell down into the ruined city, black blood painting the golden metal a glossy ebony.

As much as the lance stabbing him was painful, the sight of Brenajlok coming out of the ruins of what was a medieval-looking barrack with literal murder in his eyes overrode it. Ignoring his screaming nerves Sonic shot up into the sky, his crimson counterpart following close behind.

"_Ragur_! Come back here Rasgnarök!" A blast of hot white fire breezed by and collided with a tower, swallowing the tall building in albino flames

Kid, get serious for the love of Yggdrasil! I want to see bloodshed and limbs getting torn off!

Sonic paid no mind to the demonic snake and executed a barrel-roll to avoid another sphere of pulsing white flames. Still rising high above the stratosphere, he whirled around to face his genetical brother. Opening his mouth wide, he roared.

The sky answered his call, clouds swirling and darkening to a sinister blood red shade. The dry air caused by the roaring fires below choking Sonic became humid and filled with electricity. Brenajlok's widening golden eyes was the last thing he saw of the red god before red lightning came thundering down from the sky with a almighty boom. Sonic slowed his ascent, reptilian eyes narrowing as he searched for the other, all while trying to ignore his other's rather gruesome commenting. Rasgnarrok was a pain-

"_Veik_."

Sonic's red lookalike was suddenly in front of him, looking ragged and profusely bleeding white from his severed tail. Pale teeth gleamed, and suddenly they were sinking deep into his left shoulder, right into the bone.

Black blood spurted between the duo as Sonic roared in hurt, golden eyes flashing dangerously. His still useable right hand curled closed, purple lightning crackling in it, and before his attacker could pull back and take off with his nearly severed limb the dark furred warrior slammed it down on Brenajlok's head, letting the hundred of volts travel through the other's body. The red one screeched, jaws snapping open and freeing his arm, yet Sonic did wait for the other to back off and whirled around rapidly, the quick spin causing his tail to slam into the other's chest.

The tip of his reptilian-like limb was covered in rigid jagged spikes, and they sunk deep into Brenajlok's torso, spilling the milky white blood. Green liquid followed the albino substance, drawing howls from the crimson draconian as it burned his skin and sunk deep into his organism.

For when Brenajlok was the more resistant of the two, Rasgnarök had one lethal weapon the other did not.

Venom.

Both gods, blinded by their burning, aching wounds, charged straight for each other and collided in a manner similar to the beginning of the battle, Brenajlok wrapping his hands around his sibling's throat. Sonic retaliated by sinking his claws into the crimson deity's weakened torso and clamping down on his right wrist with as much strength he could muster.

The limb was ripped off, ligaments hanging on the edges as pale blood, a ying to Rasgnarök's, flowed out. Sonic spat it out and it felt down into the city. Yet the Blue Blur could not be smug about it. True, it would take time to heal, but the consequences of his attack were too much.

For Brenajlok opened his mouth and fired a stream of fire right into Sonic's face.

The younger god was able to twist his head aside, just a tiny bit as the white flames licked at his left eye. The organ was once again damaged beyond repair, and the fire ate at his head, burning his ear away. At the burning, unimaginable pain, Sonic let out a feral high-pitched screech and slammed his claws deeper into Brenajlok's chest, black claws nearly coming out on the other side.

The red one emitted another howl of suffering, before letting go of the other with his remaining hand. Sonic, coincidentally enough, let go as well and himself fall down. The telltale golden light of a portal was barely seen before Brenajlok was out of view.

It seemed as if it was another tie again.

The impact against Asgarn's hard pavement road was hurtful, but easily ignored by one with Sonic's willpower. His injuries, however, were not.

The bronze-gold road was already stained a deep black by the time he was able to get up. If he had guts in this form they would be spilled all over Asgarn by now. Sonic tumbled on his deformed legs, his claws scrapping against the bloodied pavement.

'_Time to go home.'_ He raised his intact arm, and with his remaining strength, he swiped it down, tearing a hole in the fabric of reality.

The portal appeared, but Sonic was too drained to travel through it. He collapsed on his stomach in the middle of the battlefield, just inches of the swirling vortex, and closed his remaining eye.

He couldn't even finish doing that that he was unconscious from the pain, unaware of the shadow nearing closer to his downed form.

xxxxxx

Shadow was not stupid.

The Ultimate Lifeform was far from it. He knew something was wrong the second his chest scar started to prickle as he was out on a routine run. By the time he got to Tails and his' apartment the damn thing was burning like a fresh wound. It was hurting as if it was coated in Rasgnarrok's terrifyingly effective poison. If he wasn't trained from birth to fight, he would be screaming his head off in pain.

With no way to warp to the god's side, Shadow could only wonder what kind of mess the Faker got himself in. Maybe he was fighting whatever being injured him beforehand; whatever it was it couldn't be that grave. He would read one of his books until the immortal came bouncing back to annoy him. Then he could question the idiot on what exactly he had been doing. Shadow didn't have any missions today, so he was free from the Commader's clutches to do whatever he wanted.

When the air finally warped and split open in the middle of the living room where he had been waiting, Shadow couldn't help but close his eyes and close his book. It was about time. His scar was hurting like hell...

"Shadow!" That made him open his eyes. It wasn't the sapphire annoyance's voice, it was lighter and more feminine. And panicked. And when he looked up, the black hedgehog couldn't help but stare at the mangled mess his rival had become.

If he hadn't been himself and in his fair share of bloody battles, he would have screamed in horror at the sight of the bloody, broken body of the person that had been casually drinking coffee with him this morning.

Sonic's left arm was snapped, hanging from the slim shoulder by a few strands of ligament. Half of his head was missing, and it was from there that darkly colored blood poured out the most. A hole in his abdomen was desperately trying to close up, muscles growing back at a unusually slow pace, the lower part of his body -including his tail- were missing large chunks of flesh and the later's spikes tip were broken and dangling, leaving what looked like green venom to fall out of the open spines Shadow thought as decorative.

Thankfully, Tails was not home to witness this horrible sight.

"Get up and help me!" The former hero was not leaning heavily against the silver squirrel, who Shadow now recognized as Sovgir once the shock passed. He was limp, comatose and unconscious, his remaining eye half open yet the golden eyeball was empty of any intelligent light and faded. Dulled by pain, the dumbfounded bio-engineered hedgehog realized as he got up and rushed to Sovgir's aid.

Shadow easily lifted the deity off the stained carpet as the portal shrunk shut, Sonic's overall weight strangely rivaling the book the Ultimate Lifeform had been reading. The genetically engineered hedgehog, arms full of what was left of the young god, quickly darted toward his room, a trail of ebony blood painting the floor beneath him as he went. Tails never entered his room, just as he did not invade his, so there was little chance that if the fox came home early he would stumble upon his supposedly -halfway right now- dead brother.

Fumbling to get the door open -the blood made everything slicker- he looked back at the awaiting Sovgir, his trained eyes noticing the glowing gun in her hands. "Clean the mess in the living room. I don't want Tails to find out."

"Shouldn't the kit know you're housing the monster that killed his brother?" The squirrel narrowed her eyes. The other conscious being in the hallway sighed, finally getting the door open. Maybe Faker didn't want to make his continued existence known because of reactions like theses.

"That's not Rasgnarrok. It's Sonic. Rasgnarrok died during the Blood Bath; Sonic was left behind and obtained Rasgnarök's abilities." Leaving her to gap like a fish out of water, Shadow entered his room. He lay the Blue Blur down on the ground -no need to get his bed all dirty- and quickly exited the chamber to get the first aid kit from the bathroom.

Sovgir was stared at the retreating Ultimate Lifeform's back with wide eyes, her brain unable to process what happened. She looked back at the bleeding creature at her feet, and recalled how he got torn apart by the crimson colored lookalike while defending the group of gods.

'_Rasgnarrok nor Rasgnarök would have saved the remaining Aesir and Vanir._' The squirrel realized, her eyes narrowing. She turned around and left the room. That blood wasn't going to wash itself.

* * *

**Im letting you translate the Icelandic words. See ya!**


	5. Fallen

Sovgir tossed one last blackened rag into the trash, her silver-blue eyes trailing over the now clean room proudly. Rasgnarök's blood had been harder to clean than she expected, the dark liquid slicker than normal blood, and with a texture and consistency similar to water. The disgruntled immortal had gone through several bottles of cleaning products before she was able to get out every last smudge of the damn thing out of the living room.

The goddess glanced at the glass bottle she was holding, her expression unreadable; a shimmering liquid lay inside, the color of grass, filling the container up to it's middle. The substance glowed almost threateningly through the glass. She knew that one drop of this in a lake would make it lethal to drink for the next decade. Rasgnarök's venom was the most potent of all chemicals she had ever encountered. The only antidote was sap from Yggdrasil, and the great tree was worlds away. Getting even the smallest amounts of it on her was a death sentence.

She never spoke about it, but she was the only one who knew exactly what the venom did to her victim. Madness. God or not, it could kill anyone. The tiredness and unconsciousness Shadow had experienced was only a weakened version of what Sovgir was holding. She would almost feel the danger swirling within the green bottle, and it took a considerable amount of effort to keep herself from throwing it out the window.

_What the hell do I do with it?_ The squirrel wondered to herself as she waved the bottle lightly, watching the contents undulate unnaturally within their glass confines. The green substance inside spun inside its glass cage, as if looking around for its next victim. Sovgir shook her head and set the bottle down. She would leave the thing to the black hedgehog, Shadow. _In fact, what am I going do?_

She did not believe Shadow, that the squirrel knew with certainty. The black hedgehog was utterly _insane_ to believe the beast. At first, she had believed him due to the initial shock at the discovery, and the need for an answer...but Sonic was dead, dead and rotting several feet beneath the earth. Sovgir had seen his mangled corpse in the aftermath of the Bloodbath, after the remaining wyrms were taken care of and the massive cloud formation dissipated. The creature Shadow had been keeping secret could very well be Rasgnarök, or his insane half.

She was terrified at the thought that the second option might be more likely. The first was crossed out, for the draconian's mind could not have survived his initial death. Gods could live on even after their forms died, that was what made them immortal, but their anguish and their occasional death impacted their psyche in ways she could not understand as she was too young to have suffered a death, leading to creatures as malformed as Rasgnarrok to come back from beyond. As the Eight Tear, Sonic had been more sane than his reptilian sibling, but he had been corrupted by his other half. At the end, he had been absorbed into Rasgnarrok, rendering his sentience null and void.

And the said monster was a master in the art of deception, so the only reason Sovgir wasn't blowing up what little remained of the fiend was her fear it would snap awake and slaughter them all. She did not know how strong he had become, but the young goddess had seen him fight the carmine copy back on Asgarn. He was not to be taken lightly, even in this weakened state.

'Yet why did I bring him here? Why did I trust that thing's portal? Sovgir frowned, shoving the last few drops of collected black blood in another bottle. There were four of the containers, sitting in the kitchen's counter, their contents swirling unnervingly, openly refusing to bow down at gravity's imaginary feet as tiny arm-like tentacles touched the liquid's cages, as if searching for a way out. The squirrel, unease by the show, tightened the lid on each bottle, refraining herself from lighting the nearest fireplace and dumping the foul substance in due to the fact she was unsure if the blood would be have a reaction to the flames.

(She knew why she had willingly entered the swirling golden mass. It reminded her of simpler days, just born and full of life, where she would be perched atop of a broad shoulder, no care or problem for miles, gazing up with a smile at the wise golden eyes...)

It was at that moment Shadow walked in the room.

The black immortal was a mess, his gloves coated black blood and his crimson stripes darkened by the same liquid. There were droplets of green coating his arms, gripping Sovgir with panic until she remembered a few seconds later that it could not harm the dark creature anymore due to his immunity to the lethal biochemical weapon, gained when Sovgir had forced him to drink the precious sap.

The silence that followed the Black Arm spawn's entrance was awkward and filled with tension. The paler of the duo struggled to stay still, glancing away, checking from the corner of her eyes if her trusty backpack was still strapped on her back. The familiar weight brought comfort to her insecure mind.

"So is he...alright?" Sovgir tripped over her words as she spoke, hesitant to call that thing by a gender.

Shadow glanced at the other immortal, seemingly analyzing her with his blood red eyes. It took restaint for the squirrel to not flinch. While the Ultimate Lifeform was younger than herself, he was still a force to be reckoned.

"Unless those wounds were caused by Chaos Energy, he won't die. However, they seem to have a hard time closing." The dark furred bio-weapon sighed, his eyes closing for a brief moment. Then, they snapped open, and Sovgir nearly took a step back at how unnervingly cold they were.

"Now, can you tell me why you don't believe me when I say that the creature you brought here is Sonic?"

The temperature in the room dropped below arctic levels.

"Rasgnarrok is a crafty bastard, and don't get me started on his abilities to create illusions. Those wounds and the red clone could be fake for all we know." _A clone?_ The tiny part of Shadow who didn't want to snap her neck took interest in the mention of the attacker's appearance. He filled it away inside his mind for later examination, choosing instead to focus on the elder's words.

The Ultimate Lifeform raised his hands to eye level, showing the inky black and toxic green dots decorating his once pearly white gloves. "Those wounds are real." He hissed, spreading his fingers, showing how the viscous liquid stretched unnaturally.

Sovgir shrugged.

"Are you telling he doesn't deserve the benefit of doubt?" Shadow pressed, carmine orbs narrowing. "He's been staying at this apartment for several days, and he hasn't murdered anyone." The irritate male pointed out, earning a glower from his fellow immortal.

"As far as you know." Shadow glared at the albino squirrel, crimson eyes flashing menacingly. Despite the threat however Sovgir persisted, hands twitching with the need to reach for her backpack. "How can you do this? Take care and protect that monster that destroyed your lives?!" The distressed squirrel snarled, ears flattening against her head and fur bristling.

"Shut up, fool." Shadow commanded with a threatening tone. "Do you want him to hear you?"

The only thing the goddess did was snort. "We're dead anyways. It probably is going to murder us the second it wakes up. Rasgnarök is a monster. That thing _cannot_ be trusted. You don't know how many people suffered the first time he was resurrected! Hundreds! _Billions_ even!" Sovgir could not stop now. She, along with all those who had interfered during Rasgnarök's first bid for power, had been forbidden to speak about the events, but right now didn't care. "It took a entire continent of gods to put him down, and even then he never died! The meager mortal survivors had to have their memories cleansed, otherwise some would have tried to look for his fragments...and look!" Her voice became bitting, making Shadow growl. "It happened once again, several of your friends died because of it, and you still protect that thing!?"

"I'm glad you voiced your opinion." Both the goddess and the immortal stilled at the familiar voice.

Shadow whirled around, his widening eyes landing on the dark figure standing shakily at the entrance of the hallway.

The smaller creature stood without help, cold golden eyes narrowed the duo. His tail was still and tense, the broken tips of the spines still oozing venom. He didn't look better than before, save from his posture and his damaged arm, which was reattaching itself, strands of black substance growing from his shoulder, reaching down and stabbing into the half-severed limb, pulling it closer, literally sewing it in front of the two surprised mammals. His other injuries were still present, yet none were bleeding anymore. His eye was missing, as well as his ear.

The once hero's frame trembled every once in a while, as if he had difficulty standing on his own, yet his pride wasn't allowing him to collapse. His head raised high, he looked at Sovgir with an expression as smooth and blank as a marble statue.

"For a while, I wanted to be seen by my friends." He began, his voice colder than Holoshka, the tone making Sovgir become rigid. She knew that tone. "Do you know what it feels, living in the body of the monster that nearly destroyed everything I know? Do you how it feels to see my brother struggling to move on? Did you know I can't turn back to my mortal form? Every time I try I end up in pain. Do you know what it feels, to not know who you really are? I suffer each day by simply existing. I can't even be around Tails without struggling to stay invisible. It's torture, to see them move on and leave me behind. Do you know how it feels?"

Shadow looked as if he had swallowed a lemon at this point. Sonic however paid no mind, and looked at Sovgir straight in the eye.

"No you don't, and seeing your reaction, I don't think I want to be seen anymore." The creature made his way to the window, slamming it open and jumping on the windowsill. The claws on his feet dug deeply into the wood, splitting it open in several places. The once hedgehog looked back at the mortified silver striped squirrel, his eyes no longer cold and narrowed, but rather accepting.

"Seems like being invisible is easier."

"Faker, get your ass back in here-!" Shadow made a move to grab the draconian, but Sonic had already jumped off the window. He fell for a moment before his psychic abilities picked him up. The dark furred god shot off into the stormy clouds above -accidentally formed due to his despair-, already out of sight before the Ultimate Lifeform could call him back.

The said black hedgehog walked over the window and slammed it shut. He turned around and gave Sovgir a scorching glare that promised unimaginable agony. The squirrel immortal shuffled back, looking away, embarassed of how easily the ebony warrior intimidated her. It might have something to do with the Ch.

_"Tell me how you found him before I shoot you."_

xxxxxxxxx

Mortal or immortal, there was one thing that could bring peace to Sonic.

Running.

The feeling of freedom, of being chained to nothing was something he could never get bored of. As mortal, he had loved exploring the marvel that was Mobius and meeting its inhabitants. Although he would always come back to his friends, he had known that he was free to leave whenever he wanted. Speed was naturally his most important asset, one that helped him many times in battle and that could get him anywhere. Running had been everything to him, the feeling of freedom and the rush he got each time he took off as crucial to him as breathing.

Now, while running was, to his chagrin, impossible to do due to his physiology, Sonic had invented a little game to past time in a speedy way.

And that was basically finding a big, angry storm, and dodging thunder until he got bored.

Barrel-rolling out of the way of another electrical surge, Sonic closed his eyes and waited the storm's next move. The said sky formation was roaring loudly in his ears as lightning grazed his body, nearly frying it. As much as it looked dangerous, it was relaxing for the young god. As mortal he loved the thrill of adventure and danger, and with his new immortality it only made him more resistant to things that would have killed him should the Rasgnarrok incident never taken place.

The storm crackled loudly around, making Sonic smile as it tried once more to electrify him. The draconian dove to the right in a effective attempt to avoid the strike. This time the shot missed completely, and the immortal sighed, getting bored by its petty attempts. He flew upwards, exiting the dark cloud. Instead of stopping however, the former hero kept flying upwards, rising high into the stratosphere. Ice formed on his tail and spines, but it was nothing but a mild discomfort.

_Maybe I should go back...? Shadow probably kicked her out._ That was a possibility, for the black hedgehog was very protective of the few he could call a friend. That of which did not include Sovgir, so she was in trouble, and the Ultimate Lifeform never had a dealing with the Chaotix without it going...well, chaotic. But Shadow could be also questioning her for the cause of his state; as much as Sonic didn't want his rival finding out about Brenajlok -a darker version of himself, with the same powers and abilities, was not something the black blur was looking forward too, that he knew- yet the former sapphire realized he did not want to go back to confront the probably irate ebony male.

Not yet, at least.

He could fly around a bit more...then he would go back and get yelled at by Shadow.

Yeah, that suited him just fine.

The coldness of Sonic's fur was what made him realize he was pretty close to space at this point, bringing him back to reality. Unless he wanted to be spotted by a satellite, hit his head against the Ark or worse, one of GUN's spy contraptions, he should go back down.

So down he went, letting himself free fall back to Mobius like a rock.

He had done it once or twice before, yet it remained as thrilling as the first time. His dilemmas with Sovgir, Rasgnarrok and Benajlok seemed to burn in the flames that wrapped themselves around him as he slammed his way into the atmosphere, golden eyes closing. The fire did not harm him, as few things could -the Chaos Emeralds and Brenajlok being one of the few- and he could only feel a strange tingling sensation that nearly made him giggle as where a mortal would be screaming its head off as it was burned to ashes.

(He was pretty sure Shadow would be having a heart attack if he saw him.)

It was one of the few things he could do to past, besides trying to strike a long conversation with his red stripped counterpart and trying, unsuccessfully, to submerge himself in water up to the tip of his ears, something he never did before...and had yet to do willingly, even if breathing was overrated for the former hero. God or mortal, his aquaphobia was still there, biting his tail and cutting his fun short. It sucked. Especially when he had to shower.

At least he didn't need to do so anymore.

It was at that exact moment his head hit metal.

xxxxxx

A mighty boom echoed through a rock-filled, muddy beach as the owner of this plane of existence was thrown to the ground. The great Jormungand, also known as the Midgard Serpent, was nothing more than squirming titan against the stone ground. His pained screams echoed off the cold sea and the trees in the vicinities, sending birds, aquatic and land animals scattering far away from the two apex predators. High above their heads the sun shimmered, silently watching the immortals' scuffle.

Finally, the emerald-scaled snake collapsed, panting, piercing cyan eyes gazed over. Agony clear in the violent twitched in the aftermath of the attack. Every now and then the great green god tried to muster up a retaliation, but Jormungand was in too much pain to be able to fight back against his tormentor.

The thick, jagged scarlet claws pinning him down also interfered with his usually graceful movements.

"You're testing my patience, _Lokison_." A deep voice rumbled above the reptile. Jormungand looked up at his attacker, his eyes filled with apprehension as they climbed up the three long red necks of the other immortal, finally settling on the face of his attacker.

Brenajlok stood over the fallen serpent in his dragon form, long crimson wings folded neatly on his back. The gigantic monstrosity of muscles, spikes and thick carmine fur was sitting besides the reptile, tail swishing boringly behind him, looking much like a irritated cat. The light from the sun shone off his scarlet fur, highlighting each individual hair and the curves the pelt made over the creature's muscles. he glowed under the weak sunlight, casting a scarlet halo onto himself.

It made the wound on his chest all the more visible. He had yet to fully recover from his fight with Rasgnarök, that was noted by the deep carves on his broad chest. The red fur was spread messily over the wounded area yet Brenajlok stood proud, ignoring the burning sensation that came from his injuries.

The red god truly hated his brethren's venom.

"I don't understand why you can't do it yourself." At the dangerous, warning glare the other shot at him, Jormungand looked down, his head lowering in a sign of submission, letting his neck show for the larger, stronger reptile to bite if he choose to. The serpent knew that it pleased the beast, and while it hated groveling, he did not want to die. "A direct child of Yggdrasil is far more powerful than the son of a mere Frost Giant. You are one of the Apex Gods. Nothing stands in your way."

_Except Rasgnarök._

That last statement was said as a praise and a insult and both gods knew it. It was a humiliation for the Midgard Serpent, who prized himself fir being related to the Trickster God, yet the way he spoke was the only thing kept the reptile alive. The great snake thanked Chaos for learning how to please others with honeyed words. Brenajlok loved asserting his dominance over the other gods, but none else than his counterpart could stop him. But since the incident with the modified Chaos Emeralds -one that was supported by nearly all gods, Jormungand was sure the darker draconian would not interfere, let alone think about his former allies.

So long they stayed to hell away from a particular reality, Rasgnarök was not going to tear their throats out. The god was mysteriously grounded to that world ever since his full awakening, and very, very protective of it, prowling it's edges constantly and daring them to trespass it's territory. Each time immortals encountered the second Apex God, they brought back reports of a different personality than before, a softer, more determined one than the cold, restrained one they were used to, but not many believed it. The creature was known to be deranged, driven to madness by its own death.

"I am facing a...dilemma, if you will." The crimson monster drawled, all three heads grinning demonically as he racked the paw he used to hold the serpent down against the emerald scales, causing the reptile to wince in pain and bite his lips to stop himself from screaming as the claws left deep lacerations behind, easily piercing the jade hide.

"My _dear_ sibling put shields around his territory, even more around one certain world. That makes me wonder why." The golden-eyed monster hissed softly. "I hate unsolved mysteries. I want to get in there and find out what my dear sibling is hiding, but the shields prevent me from using my portal to get in. However, they can't stop me if I use another god's portal."

"So you want to get into Rasgnarök's land? He's going to slaughter me if I do that!" The serpent cried indignantly, surprise momentarily overtaking his terror. Brenajlok's eyes narrowed, the golden orbs flashing dangerously.

"Why should I care for that?" The beast smiled once more, a cruel grin that made the son of Loki shiver. "He probably doesn't even remember you, worm."

The green snake gritted his teeth, but nevertheless complied.

"You...you are correct." The serpent bowed it's head. "...forgive me, lord."

With no room to wiggle around, Jormungand slammed his tail against the beach with all the remaining strength he had, the thundering boom that followed echoing through the coastline. The sea shook, the deep blue waters churning and whirling until a deep, black hole formed, large enough to swallow the crimson god.

There was silence as Brenajlok examined the water portal, scanning it for any signs of trickery. Jormungand knew the beast could see beyond what his own keen eyes reported, and he shivered under the ruby paw, curling onto himself. He did not want to suffer the same fate as his brethren of Asgarn.

"You have been very useful. Thank you, little fool." The crimson god's tail viciously slammed down on Jormingand's scaled head with a sickening crack and the Midgard Serpent knew no more. Brenajlok threw the unconscious mass aside with one swipe of his paws and shifted back to his humanoid form, uncaring of how the massive serpent crushed a quarter of the forest in its tumble. Rising into the salty see air, the creature flew into the giant water portal.

Somewhere in the sea that covered the southern hemisphere of Mobius, a massive whirlpool took form.


	6. Return

_What is this thing doing here?!_

On a later date and _without_ a very sore head he would have argued against his past self, and pointed out that fat egg-shaped super villains did not expect their supposedly dead nemesis to drop down from the sky. Nor for them to survive impact. What could have killed a ordinary person and made their insides paint the dull purple metal a bright red was nothing but a itch and a irritating throb, the later already easing away into nothing.

A loud metallic screech made Sonic turn his head to the left, just quick to watch as a sleek, shiny yellow turret equipped with a heap of weapons popped out of the ship's metallic hull. The pained expression on his face washed away and was replaced by a borderline disbelieving look.

It seemed as if Eggman still had defense mechanisms on his ships even after his supposed death.

_Well, crap._

He really wasn't lucky today.

The young god rolled aside as the machine fired its first round of lasers, aiming where he had been seconds before. Sonic jumped on his deformed legs and quickly took flight just as several other turrets emerged from their confinements. The golden-eyed creature cast a weak psychic shield, just strong enough to block the beams of energy that rained down upon him, and for it to last as he shot away from the ship, trying to get out of firing range.

However, the former mortal's plan backfired as the defense mechanism of the ship decided to send out a few dozen of flying robots. All equipped with lasers Sonic was very familiar with. The blast flew over his head, and something within himself reared up and hissed.

Dammit.

_Chaos energy._

"The only thing missing is Egghead choking on his speaker...it would be just like old times." The young deity gritted his sharp teeth together as he made a sharp ascend, avoiding a batch of missiles and lasers -only to fly into a thick cloud and get soaked to the bone.

You forgot to add the fact you're flying without those stupid colored rocks and that you have horns instead of being all sparkly and gold, worm. Sonic rolled his emerald eyes at his other's comment, exiting the cloud by flying back down. If getting away wasn't going to stop the missiles, maybe being inside the ship would.

"Always good to know you're here, Rasgnarrok." The immortal replied flatly. He did a barrel roll to the left as a new wave of missiles came his way. The explosives flew past him and exploded somewhere in the upper atmosphere in a firework of shades of red and orange.

Eggman's ship was right in front of him now, a mere twenty feet away. Avoiding the explosive ammunition coming out of the turrets was a piece of cake; also, it was a painful reminder of the past he cherished deeply...In seconds he reached the giant sky vehicle's bright, purple side. Searching for trapdoors or anything resembling one. He found none.

Well, if you could not find a door, make one yourself. The philosophy always worked for him.

Two swipes of his claws did it; the thick, shiny metallic hull of the skyship could not hold against the deity and was torn open, just wide enough for Sonic to enter the gigantic vehicle. The draconian did not hesitate and dove inside face first, feet dangling above him, wiggling through a heap of cables before having his nose get a intimate meeting with metal wall. Scrunching his face in a irritated expression, the black furred immortal raised his arms and swiped his claws against the metal. He was pleased to see it part between his fingers.

He slid inside, barely catching himself before his body made contact with the metallic ground and make a loud sound he would rather not hear. Floating upwards, the once mortal looked around. What he saw confused him greatly.

Why was the place so dirty? Several inches of dust had gathered on the ground, along with scraps of metal and several boxes made of the same material. There were no combat -or cleaning- bots in sight. As he floated through the ship, Sonic found the hallways was unusually quiet. Too quiet. Almost as if the ship had been abandoned...

The immortal poked his head from room to room, confused by the sight of papers, half-built machines, among other things, discarded on the floor and covered in dust.

"How is he doing?"

Orbot...? It had been such a long time since he had heard the robot's voice! The spherical robot appeared from a hallway corner just as Sonic faded out of existence, rendering himself invisible to the machine. Another voice broke the thick, haunting silence of the sky fortress, responding to the well educated machine's question as a second, more square-shaped robot floated after the other :

"Nat well, Orby. Man's lost too much weight. He ain't getting out of bed anytime soon. If this keeps up..." It was Cubot this time, and Sonic didn't know if he should hightail out of the ship before their sensible systems detected him or whoop in joy at the sight of two of Eggman's henchmen. But what they were speaking about made darkly furred ears perk up in attention as curiosity took over the young god.

"It is a probability. His body is deteriorating quickly; the reason of his healthiness, despite his unsanitary diet, was the flux of Chaos energy he obtained from the Chaos Emeralds. Now that flux is drying up. If we don't find him a alternative..."

"But what makes him so...?"

Orbot raised a metallic eyebrow at his companion. "Dead-like? Honestly Cubot, I don't think you would forget what happened. Rasgnarrok's aura chokes Chaos energy. The first encounter rendered our poor Master sick and unable to be of use..." The machine paused and sighed sadly, unaware of the supposedly dead hero that floated above them, completely mortified by what he was hearing.

"...things got only worse when the monster reached it's final form. You saw the readings, my friend. Rasgnarök's miasma had spread across Mobius, drawing out madness and despair from the depths of the planet. I fear Eggman does not have much, if any, time left."

Sonic felt numb at those words.

Chaos, no.

._..that's why Eggman never showed up when Rasgnarrok found the final Tear. He would have, at the very least, heard about what was happening; he would have tried to help my friends against it... now I know the truth._ His face was twisted in horror, and he unwillingly curled his hands against his chest. A silent, heartless chest. Devoid of life...and that was what Eggman was turning into.

_I'm killing him._

He barely noticed that Orbot and Cubot had come to a sudden stop at a imposing, yet bare metal door. The rounder of the two sighed.

"Things are going to change after he is gone, Cubot. I am apprehensive for our future." Orbot caressed the massive door with a black-painted metal hand. "We should go. It is ill advised to disturb our master."

Cubot, for once, looked solemn. "Yeah. We should check out the security breach. Probably a malfunction...without the good doctor, the entire ship is breaking apart." The cubic-shaped robot hovered away from the imposing door, continuing further into the hallway. His rounder companion stayed longer, however, looking back at the imposing door with a sadness not many machines could demonstrate.

Sonic floated above them; he however had not followed the robotic duo. No, his eyes never left the threshold of the mysterious chamber that was causing two of Eggman's lackeys soo much grief. Not even when Orbot and Cubot turned around a corner of the hallway, leaving him alone. He did not follow them, eyes fixated on the massive gates.

Should he?

He didn't have much to lose...

Alone and curious, as well as incredibly apprehensive of what he might find. With a slight push from his powers, he willed the door to open, his tail flicking and twisting behind him, a obvious sign of his nervousness. The draconian silently flew inside, letting his invisibility drop as it closed itself behind him. If what he heard was true, he might not need to hide, not when his once enemy was at Death's door.

The room inside was dark, the only reason he could see the bed and the bump in it was due to his more powerful than normal eyesight. Scanning the room with his green gaze, the former Blue Blur noticed how utterly barren it was. There was nothing but the bed. He further in, finally reaching the massive white furniture. A lump was seen from beneath the blankets, and the young god blinked, floating closer.

_Please tell me it isn't who I think it is..._

The black-furred god stopped all movement the second he saw the shape move, his muscles tensing as he instinctively prepared to flee. A head popped out of the covers. A thin, bald head, with a grey in mustache that dropped sadly.

"...is that you, rodent?" It was a rough, lifeless voice that made the draconian freeze up. A thick silence fluttered around the chamber as he debated letting his disgraceful form show or run for the hills. The former won, for no matter how much his brain debated, his heart always won at the end, and he wanted at least someone else than Hel and Shadow to know he was alive, even for a small time.

"How did you know?" He wondered softly, landing gracefully on the metallic floor, his claws digging lightly into the hard material. His tail twitched uneasily as the sick, dying human gave him a soft smile.

"Rodent, you can take any form you wish, but your eyes...those eyes cannot be imitated." The man laughed weakly, but it came out like a rasp. Sonic winced. "I mean, seriously hedgehog, I just look at them and I feel annoyed!"

The draconian smiled, helpless to stop the chuckle from tumbling out of his lips.

"Glad to see you didn't change, Egghead." That was a lie. Eggman...did not look well. Not the slightest, the former azure hero realized sadly as he took in the man's condition.

He was incredibly skinny, having lost several pounds; the skin around his eyes had turns dark, his mustache had greyed considerably. His glasses were gone, allowing him the pair of dulled blue eyes. The man was wearing a white tunic, letting the former hedgehog see the ribs poking out from underneath the sick, pale skin.

"I haven't, have I?" Eggman nodded with a gentle smile on his aged face.

Emerald eyes flickered down to the two monstrous, deformed limbs he dared call hands. While they had the shape of one, the fingers were longer than normal, with black claws at their tips that curled downward. Anything caught at the end of those claws would, at the very least, lose a limb.

He could only be repulsed by them. By himself. By what he had become, by the monstrous power that laid nestled inside of him, wailing to get out, to escape and lay waste on the world.

Sonic looked back at his once opponent. His eyes trailed over every bony bump, the dead hair still clinging to their owner, the pale, almost unseeing blue eyes that had once looked down upon him with hatred and irritation, but that also acknowledged his existence, his strength.

...what if he channeled that power, that strength? He had the power, why not use it?

Advancing toward the sick human, Sonic laid his hands on Eggman's chest, staying silent and ignoring the scientist when he asked what the once mortal hedgehog was doing. Closing his eyes, the black god concentrated on what he wanted, unaware of how his hands were slowly enveloped by thick black miasma.

_If I don't do this, he's dead...dead as a corpse. Like **I** am supposed to be._

Eggman's eyes flew wide and the man rasped, trying to wiggle away from the fallen hero. Sonic gave a apologetic smile to his former rival. "I have to try something, okay? This is probably the only thing I can do to help you."

_Besides exiling myself to the furthest corners of reality...there should be a nice little black hole for rent somewhere..._

A invisible rope of psychic energy gently kept him where he was, so Sonic didn't have to worry about the man falling off the bed and concentrated on the task. He could feel his enemy's nearly dried Chaos reserves shrivel up like a dead plant as he spread his energy inside the human's body, praying to Chaos that this would work, that it would listen to him and heal his once-enemy.

**FAILURE.**

Sonic could feel Rasgnarrok's muzzle inches from his right ear.

**You are not going to succeed.** The wretched beast hissed, the long fangs brushing against the triangular limb. Sonic kept on trying, determined to see this through. **This hapless task of yours is nothing but a waste of time. You're pathetic, worm. We are in this world to destroy; not to fix this imbecile.** Images flashed in front of his eyes. The pain, the horror, the screams. He knew was this power was for but he still tried to alter the flow, to make it something that could give birth to life, like it had done so a very long time ago. But he felt the curse, the agony, the betrayal and madness imprinted into this power, and Sonic knew then and there it was too late. Rasgnarök's powers are too corrupted to be of help. **This is useless.**

He tried, concentrating as hard as he could to force it to fix the other, but...the powers he now possessed rebelled against the idea of helping, of actually aiding a mortal, and he could only let out a single, near silent sob as he released Eggman. Collapsing against the massive bed, he felt his ears fold back flat against his skull and his tail drop limply on the floor, as if it was devoid all of its bones.

Sonic had lost.

**You are a failure.**

One of his hands was taken into one of the human's, regardless of the scratches they made on the defenseless, pale skin.

Like I said...you are useless. Rasgnarrok hissed contently, a tongue reaching out from between two jaws and brushing against Sonic's ear, almost like a caress. The monster was mocking him, congratulating him for something he was unable to do.

He looked up to the dying last descendant of the Robotnicks, and felt his eyes water as he saw the solemn look in Eggman's face. The man knew the next adventure was coming, and Sonic was helpless to stop him from crossing over to a realm the young immortal was likely to never see.

Eggman's last breath exited the man's lips almost unnoticeably.

Sonic didn't know how much time he laid there, clawed hand still cradled in the enormous one of the elder human. All the energy, all of his life was drained out his body. He knew that Eggman was going to enjoy spending eternity with his ancestors, building who-knows-what without restrains... Yet the human's death... Everything suddenly lost meaning...

Something inside of him simply...

...snapped.

_**CRACK**_

The metal walls of the room _fractured_ under the pressure of a unknown force as the floor was violently tilted to the left, the entire ship lurching as Sonic's face contorted into a expression of complete and utter rage. If only, if just only Rasgnarök had never gone mad, if only the god never died...if only the gods hadn't plotted to kill him...none of this would have happened. He would live unaware of the godly heritage he could have had. He would have grown old surrounded by his friends, happy with the life he lived.

But no, fate had to screw him over.

Thick black miasma gathered around him, his horns suddenly hitting a growth spurt, their tips sharpening and their edges gaining a barbed, sharp texture. The tips gained a tint of gold as the said color invaded his eyes like a parasite, washing away the darkening emerald green. His quills rose, jagged and sharp like the blade of a sword, a glistening black that seemed to swallow the shadows around them. His eyes glowed, a pure molten gold that shone like miniature stars.

Sonic threw his head back and roared, just to let the rage and misery out. His face seemed to deform, pale peach lips turning black and stretching impossibly wide as his teeth grew in size; poking out of his gums like razors, momentarily taking the traits of the gigantic beast he could oh so easily turn into. And for a moment, he wanted to. He wanted to shed this fake body and turn into the monster that hid beneath. He wanted to feel the powerful form again in all of it's glory, the mass of muscle and hatred and pain and tears that rivaled the moon.

He wanted his body to be as hideous and broken as his mind had become.

But soon enough, his rage turned into lament. Lament at his own failure. Sadness over what had happened, what could have happened if he had been stronger. Warping away from the last Robotnick's air ship, he flew back towards the city, towards Station Square, towards what was left of himself.

His mind was his own, but his body wasn't. He was wearing the skin of another and he knew it. He was a monster. He was a _fake_. He was a corpse, the remain of a being older than the planet he was protecting. His heart clenched in his chest.

As fake and as monstrous as he had become, he still had friends to watch over.

They needed him.

**USELESS. **

The young wyrm could feel his brethren's breath on his neck.

**YOU ARE USELESS.**

He ignored the wetness on his cheeks, focusing on reaching the city as quickly as he could.

(Protecting them was, after all, the only purpose he had left.)


End file.
